Kamala Harris Dodges Question About 2020 Presidential Run

Kevork Djansezian / Getty6 Apr 2018

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) dodged questions from talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday about whether she is planning to run for president in 2020.

Harris, who is widely viewed as a potential frontrunner for the Democratic Party nomination, appeared before a sympathetic audience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The host introduced her enthusiastically: “[S]he was elected as California’s first African-American Senator, she’s also the first Indian- American to be elected to the Senate, and there are many who would like to see her as the first female President of the United States.”

But Harris did her best not to answer a direct question from the host: “You’re probably not going to answer me but I’m going to ask you anyway. … Will you run for President?”

“I’m not going to answer,” Harris replied, adding:

Here is my answer. Right now are in the early months of 2018. And at this very moment in time, there are people across America who have priorities around their health care, have priorities around can they get through the end of the month and pay the bills, pay off their student loans, can they afford to pay for gas, housing — critical issues. These DACA kids, when we talk about where they are in terms of immigration, there are so many pressing issues — guns, we have got to pass an assault weapons ban, we need to have universal background checks — these are immediate needs. And these are the things I am focused on right now. I have seen so many people, Ellen, focus on that thing our there, and then trip over this thing here. I don’t want to trip. There’s so much that’s important right now.

DeGeneres, undaunted, countered: “Who would be your vice president?”

Harris also joked about killing President Trump and other members of the administration.